Chapter 181: Desperate Feast
Steam continued to swallow the chamber long after Aren vanished.
The broken facility groaned in the aftermath, metal cracking overhead as loosened pipes kept spitting water into the flooded floor below. Chunks of concrete dropped one after another into the drainage pit, burying anything and everything underneath it.
For a while, it seemed to be that way, until a hand broke through.
Alysa staggered out from behind the collapsed machinery, one hand gripping the remains of her bow while the other was placed on her side where a piece of concrete managed to puncture her waist.
Her Full Morph was still active, frost emitting from her shoulders as wind swirled around her body. But even so, it was staggering, barely reinforcing her and keeping her from falling over.
Alysa's eyes looked around frantically, almost maniacally, trying to spot the wretched brat that had done this to her. But there was only water, steam, and the lingering traces of lightning ether that was already dissolving into the air.
She stood still for several seconds, the corners of her mouth twitching. "...Gone?"
"He…actually ran?"
The bow in her hand dissolved and scattered back into ether as her shoulders began to tremble. For a brief second, she looked like she might laugh again. Instead, her hand shot up and dug into her own hair, nails scraping against her scalp until it drew blood.
Her Full morph receded, the jagged icicles and raging winds that were around her ceased to exist. Piece by piece, the monstrous spiritual pressure drained away until Alysa Evon stood in the flooded chamber in her usual form—soaked, bruised, and shaking with barely contained rage.
"Stupid," she hissed.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid…"
She kicked at the water, sending a splash against a broken pipe. "I had him. I had him right there."
Her hand drifted to the shallow cuts along her body, then to the piece of concrete that was still embedded in her side.
But as she took the next step, her body suddenly seized. Thin red cracks appeared along the side of her neck, then across her collarbone like it was trying to split its way out.
One hand flew to her throat while the other pressed against her chest.
"GARRRGHHH!" Alysa yelled in pain, barely managing to pull the piece of concrete out from her waist before she fell to her knees.
But she wasn't worried about that, raising both hands to look at the cracks now forming on them like a disease.
"N-no…not now, not now, not now. Fuck fuck…I need to find someone…!"
To her surprise, that was when footsteps echoed from the far side of the chamber, at the top of the facility where the sewers led to the drainage facility.
The figures emerged before sliding down calmly. At their center walked Darius, spear held loosely at his side as he scanned the surroundings.
One of the soldiers stepped forward first, staring at the ruined facility, then at Alysa kneeling in the water.
"Agent Evon?" he called, confusion sharpening into alarm. "What the hell happened here?"
Another soldier scanned the torn machinery and shattered floor. "Where's the target? Was there another hostile?"
She didn't answer, as something else caught her attention. The scent…it was the scent that drove her crazy.
The smell of blood made her mouth drool, as she could already smell the ether inside. It was similar to looking at a cow and imagining all the rich bone marrow inside.
Darius finally approached, eyes narrowing as he looked at her. "Alysa."
When she didn't reply, he called to her again, lowering his spear. "Alysa, can you hear me? Don't do anything rash—"
But it was too late.
Water exploded beneath her feet as she lunged upward before the soldier could even raise his rifle. Her hand clamped around his jaw and shoulder before—
CRACK!
She snapped his neck in one motion before immediately opening her mouth and sinking her teeth into his throat.
"Wha—!"
The soldier's scream barely escaped as Alysa drank deeply, eyes rolling back into her head as the cracking lines across her skin began to dim.
His rifle slipped from his hand and splashed into the water. The other soldiers stared, stunned so completely that none of them fired.
Yet as this was happening, all Darius could do was…stare.
His gaze remained on Alysa, but if anyone was there to look at his expression, there could only be one word to describe his look right now:
Disgust.
The soldier's body went limp, and only then did Alysa release him.
He collapsed into the water at her feet, blood spreading outward and dyeing the sewage water in red as Alysa stood over him.
The cracks on her body receded beneath her skin as if they'd never been there in the first place and her bloodshot eyes were suddenly clear now.
She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand, regaining the normal composure they'd all associated her with.
Alysa made eye contact with Darius, clicking her tongue once before she spoke.
"Take care of it."
The remaining soldiers finally seemed to understand what had happened. One took a step back while another lifted his rifle and aimed it at her.
"Captain Darius…" one of them whispered, voice shaking. "What is—"
Darius raised one hand, lifting his spear from the side without it being touched. It hovered silently for a second, suspended behind him as the tip was pointed towards the group of shaking soldiers.
And with a snap of his fingers—
The weapon blurred through the chamber.
The first soldier barely had time to react before the spear pierced his chest and tore out through his back. It shifted direction instantly, cutting through the second, then the third…
Screams echoed throughout the processing facility as bodies dropped one by one to the floor, never to be heard from ever again. And within seconds…
The only people left standing were Darius and Alysa.
The spear returned to him slowly, hovering at his side as blood dripped from its tip into the water. It floated into his hand almost like a magnet before disappearing into gold etheric dust.
His expression didn't change much, but his eyes lingered on the bodies longer than necessary.
"You're becoming reckless."
Alysa rolled her eyes at the statement, retorting back. "And since when did you care?"
"They were part of our squad."
"They were witnesses."
Alysa stepped over one of the bodies at her feet, stopping on one and kicking the corpse away. "And besides, they're replaceable anyway."
"Us, on the other hand, are not!" she yelled. "You know how many people and Bloodlines it takes to make us?!"
But as she lashed out at him, she'd noticed how he'd been looking away from the bodies, eyes fixed on her, glaring.
"Oh…don't you look at me like that, Darius. You were the one who killed them?"
"Tch…" he clicked his tongue. "I cleaned up your mess, that's all. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Awww sweetie, you always do," she said cheerfully, already heading towards the exit she'd spotted earlier.
"Who was it? Who managed to match you even in Full Morph?"
"...I don't know?"
Darius was the one that lashed out this time, grabbing her collar before lifting her up. "That is not an answer."
"It's the only one I have." She lifted both hands in mock surrender. "He wore a veil and had the Water and Lighting Elements."
"Other than that…beats me!"
Darius sighed, realizing what he was doing before putting her back down on the ground. He ran a hand through his hair before continuing.
"Fine…do you at least know how many Lines he had?"
"I dunno," Alysa shrugged, "But if I were to guess…at least four? But does it really matter?"
"No," Darius shook his head, pulling out his phone. "If he's not an Ascendant-Grade Mystic, then he cannot stop us."
He stepped toward the broken tunnel they had come from, reading a message on his phone. "That doesn't change what we're here to do."
"Subject 013. He's still out there and causing a ruckus for Khan and Aetherion."
Alysa followed behind him, skipping in small steps as a smile appeared on her face, with her hands tucked behind her back like a little kid.
Darius lowered his gaze briefly to the dead soldiers in the water before clasping his hand together and whispering a small prayer, hoping it'd wash him of his sins.
When he finished, he looked up and stopped at the edge of the steam. "We have one mission: Locate the rogue subject…"
"And eliminate him."
Alysa stretched her arms behind him, exclaiming. "Oooh, that's gonna be so fun! I get first dibs on his blood once we get to him, alright?"
"But what happens when that Mystic I fought earlier intervenes again? Do we kill him? Capture him? Please tell me I can kill that mongrel!"
Darius exhaled softly, putting his phone back into his pocket before looking at her again. "We follow Code 2."
"Any obstructions to our mission will be dealt with—"
"Regardless…if they're complicit or not."